What sort of educational background do you have?
Graduated from The Ohio State University with Bachelor’s degree in Communications
Is there one subject in particular you wish you had studies more while in college?
I went to Catholic school my whole life, and when I got to college and had to take all of the introductory/basic requirement classes I rather liked my History classes the most. I felt like there was so much that I was never taught in my elementary school days, or things that were only briefly mentioned, that when I was able to see the broader picture–that was very appealing to me! And I felt cheated.
When and how did you become an employee of Jeff Smith’s company, Cartoon Books?
I was attending college part-time and was considering a break from school. I was a work-study student in The College of Arts and Sciences, and was reading the classifieds section of the student newspaper when I saw the ad for Cartoon Books. I gave it a shot and went in for an interview, which was right before a 3 day holiday weekend. I wound up leaving a message on Cartoon Books’ voicemail Sunday evening–something to the effect of ‘hey its Kathleen. if you haven’t made a decision yet, you should hire me!’ Jeff says that he and Vijaya heard that, got a huge laugh and said ‘let’s pick her!’ and thats all she wrote!
What are your responsibilities on a day-to-day basis?
My official title is ‘production manager’ but i really do a bit of everything. from clerical duties like filing and answering fan mail, to accounting, handling the production schedule for our projects, travel, everything convention-related, product solicitations, distribution and warehousing, inventory, etc. And I like to call myself the ‘mother goose’, as I always want to ensure everyone has what they need and that we’re all running like a well-oiled machine.
How man employees does Cartoon Books now have?
Including Jeff, there are 5 of us.
How does the company make hiring decisions? What are some qualities that you look for in an employee?
Well its been a very long time since we’ve had to hire anyone! If we were looking, I’d say the biggest asset is being flexible. Its the nature of working for an artist–not everything gets done on time, so you have to have a good attitude and roll with it. And when its convention season, weekends are required to work, so you have to account for that. And during deadline, working late hours is pretty typical.
What is Cartoon Books business model? Is it broken into divisions, such as comics, toys, licensing, etc.? What’s the life-cycle of some of the products? And what partners, if any, does Cartoon Books work with to get their products to market?
We always work from a 5 year plan, and that has been a very good guideline to work from. Thats the starting point-and you have to remain flexible when aligning artistic pursuits with the business end, because art comes from inspiration, and rarely is something you can set your watch to. So planning is key. From there you can plan where your project will be and how you can expand. For example, comics. After fleshing out your ideas and deciding that your project will be 20 comic issues long, lets say, you have to figure out how long it will take you to complete 1 issue, and thusly knowing how many you can do in a year. You also must consider your bottom line, if you are trying to earn a living from this. The next logical step is collecting these comics into collected graphic novels, and from there you can consider merchandising, licensing etc. The life-cycle of the comic issues themselves is short–the greatest impact it will ever have is when it first debuts. Graphic Novels have proven very well for us. They have a very long shelf life. We work with our distributors in the business to be the ‘middle man’ for us, by taking our product from the printer to the hands of the retailers. Sales reps take our titles to buyers at Amazon or B&N, etc and show how our titles are consistent winners and that is why they need to keep our stock…
It was Jeff Smith’s vision to see comic books/graphic novels regarded more like books when he first started Cartoon Books. Is that Cartoon Books’ vision still? Or does the company have a different vision?
Absolutely! Acceptance by teachers and librarians was key; they’ve seen comics be the gateway to a greater interest in learning and discovery.
Cartoon Books and its licensers have printed several runs of Bone in various collections – volumes, a brick, etc., which one seemed to work best?
Well I guess I’d have to say Cartoon Books’ One Volume Edition . its now in its 16th printing so we’re doing something right!
Are Marvel and DC killing the comic book medium?
I don’t read superhero comics, so the whole re-vamping everything and starting out at #1 didn’t affect me, but alot of friends were in a huff about it. I don’t see it as a bad thing–they’re trying something new and keeping their name on everyone’s lips so thats pretty smart I think. Different isn’t always a bad thing.
Is Cartoon Books positioning itself in a way to overcome a shifting industry?
You have to learn to adapt. With iPads, and e-readers the next natural progression is digital comics. Its all new to us so we are still learning.
Is self-publishing a viable option for young comic book creators, or was Jeff Smith and Cartoon Books just an anomaly?
Times have changed so much its hard to say. Jeff had a great idea at the right time and everything just ‘clicked’–not that he didn’t have his fair share of rejections and disappointments, but I don’t think an up and coming artist today would fair as easily. Its really tough getting your foothold today. Its a little bit of talent, luck, and timing.
Scholastic printed a brick of Bone in color. Are they interested in printing more titles?
Correction—Cartoon Books put out the OVE in color for our 20th Anniversary this year. Since they finished the core story a couple years back, they have released prequels and new adventure stories–the Quest for the Spark trilogy is still being released. If Tom Sneigoski has a good idea that both Jeff and Scholastic like, then theres always the opportunity for more from the Bones!
Is there a market for educational comic books or “educomic textbooks”?
I suppose so! I receive many requests from authors writing educational reference books and who also are using the Bone One Volume as their course textbook, so thats been interesting. wish we had those types of offerings when i was in college!
What measures are being taken to bolster interest in Cartoon Books? Is it seeking to diversify its holdings? Is it seeking to differentiate itself from the competition?
We try to embrace and not fear changes in our industry. you have to try to stay ahead of the curve—like the foray into digital comics!
Is Cartoon Books aiming to attract more minority fans, such as women? What could the industry at large do to draw in more minority fans, especially women?
Women have embraced the Bone cousins from the beginning–mostly by their boyfriends suggestions to check it out, so we’ve been very lucky in that regard.
Jeff was working with Nickelodeon on a Bone movie sometime ago. With the recent success of shows like “The Last Air Bender,” which did not have a pop song in it, is there any renewed interest / effort to make a Bone cartoon or movie?
We have an animated film in development with Warner Bros, and this feels pretty solid. In my time here, this is the furthest we’ve come to making an actual movie, so fingers crossed!
What personal lessons have your learned from your time with Cartoon Books?
You learn to be a team player and you learn alot about patience :)
And the obligatory question: What do you think it takes to be an entrepreneur?
Highlight your strengths. You should aspire to do a few things extremely well not several things moderately. Keep intelligent, responsible people close to you–afterall you are only as good/strong as the folks in your circle. Being organized and detail oriented are key as well as maintaining a sense of humility are going to be what keep you successful!
